Former Jefferson prosecutor is sentenced to probation

A Jefferson Parish assistant district attorney was given probation in federal court Tuesday after he admitted using a confidential national database to track down someone who almost hit him on Interstate 10.

Perry Booth IV, 44, of Gretna, was sentenced to two years of probation and received a $3,000 fine in connection with his guilty plea for unauthorized access to information by use of computer by U.S. District Judge Helen G. Berrigan. Booth pleaded guilty to the crime in September, according to U.S. Attorney Jim Letten's office.

Booth told authorities that he and his wife were almost involved in an accident with a motorist near Gulfport, Miss. in June 2008. Booth became angry after the incident and copied down the driver's license plate number.

The next day when Booth returned to work, he had an investigator in the Jefferson Parish district attorney's office run the license plate through the National Crime Information Center database.

It is illegal to run a license plate through that database, which can provide personal information about drivers, without having a legitimate law enforcement reason. Once Booth obtained the driver's information, he sent him a letter that threatened and berated him for the near accident. The other driver was not identified by authorities, but he lives in Metairie.

Booth had previously been assigned to the juvenile division in the district attorney's office.